In addition to players, owners, sponsors, downtown businesses and fans, the Nashville Youth Hockey League is also feeling the pain of a lost — or perhaps just delayed and truncated — NHL season.

Thursday was Day 110 of the NHL lockout, and a mid-January deadline to save the season is approaching.

Enrollment for the younger players has dropped as much as 5 percent this year, according to John Higgins, president of the league.

“Little kids go see the game being played, they think they want to do it, they tell mom and dad, mom and dad sign them up in learn to play program,” he said.

The decline in new enrollment is a contrast to the growth the league has experienced, especially in recent years, as the Nashville Predators have experienced more playoff success.

“The last two seasons, making it to the second round of the playoffs, have really helped our numbers grow — to the point we are at capacity or over capacity,” he said. “We are scrambling to get resources together which has been a good problem. We have benefited from riding on their coattails.”

Since the Predators began playing in Nashville, Higgins said youth hockey, which began in 1964, has grown 2 to 5 percent each year. Following playoff years, the league has seen about 10 percent growth in participation.

“I’m cautious about what it will do to us next year if we have no hockey this year,” he said. “As a fan of the Predators, I’m pretty frustrated. As a president and CEO of youth hockey league, I’m frustrated as well but also understand.”

Higgins said the league’s players, which is includes more than 400 players, are mourning the absent season, especially missing out on intermission play at games.

"The majority of the kids follow hockey to the point where they cant remember their spelling words or how to do math problems but they know every statistic and how to spell Alex Ovechkin’s name."